Charles Hoffman Maj, USAF, Ret., a member of the Allied Forces Liberators of Colditz Castle.

L. Knight - the daughter of Don Knight, who starred in the film.

And finally to the men of Colditz, who fought to preserve the freedoms we still enjoy today. Their like will not be seen again.

With film copies now available, I will be ending my maintenance of this web page. It has served its purpose.
It has been my pleasure to serve you in this capacity though all these years.
My best to you and yours in the years to come.

February 7, 2002

It appears that the poster is multi-lingual, with French in the upper
right and Dutch in the lower left. The English title "Escape of the
Birdmen" is in tiny writing below the French.
I believe the translations to be:
"In the claws of the SS" (French)
and
"In the claws of the Nazi's" (Dutch)

It's pretty funny how they made Kommandant Schiller
(Richard Basehart) look like the embodiment of evil. In the movie
he is portrayed as an officer and a gentleman who respects
the Allied officers for their flying skills.
Anything to sell movie tickets, I guess.

January 3, 2002

Since "Operation Braindrain - Codename: Chessboard" was made for
British and European distribution, our current efforts to obtain copies of the film are now focusing there.

I have a contact in Switzerland who is attempting to locate copies anywhere
on the continent. More info as it becomes available.

December 12, 2001

Recent investigation has shown that the European video release of
the movie, "Operation Braindrain - Codename: Chessboard", is slightly
different from the original that was re-broadcast after the
debut in 1971.

The video release has several scenes that are not included in the
domestic version. Thrse is an extensive opening sequence of
Allied bombers and pilot briefings, the meeting of Cook and
Brevik in a Nazi workcamp and their escape, a flashback as Brevik recalls
failing to meet the commandos sent in to Norway to get him out,
and another flashback where Davies recalls the incident that caused his blindness.

The opening credits are overlayed on stock footage of aerial
bombardments and dogfights, and the closing credits are omitted
and replaced with an abupt "The End". All the extra footage
adds nearly 20 minutes to the runtime.

Thinking back, I can remember seeing the two flashback scenes in the
original broadcast, but I am not sure about the opening
sequence. I am also sure that the closing credits were shown in
the debut as well.

I have to think that the opening escape was NOT in the original
broadcast, since the runtime of 90 minutes would have allowed
no time at all for commercials. So, it appears that "Codename:
Chessboard" is something akin to the "director's cut", and includes
shots not used in the first TV showing.